Read My Lips
by Amelia F
Summary: Ultimately Rory has to choose between Tristan, Jess and Dean! This takes place right after the 24-hour dance marathon. Pls R&R!
1. A Sour Morning

"Rory, Rory honey?" Lorelai asked, peering into Rory's bedroom.  
  
"I'm here Mum, just looking at these Harvard pamphlets."  
  
"Yeah, and eating breakfast without me," Lorelai feigned annoyance and hurt.  
  
"Sorry, Mum."  
  
"Grrr..."  
  
"I've got to go now," Rory kept the pamphlets and grabbed her schoolbag by the side of the bed.  
  
"Aaaw...not even time for a cup of coffee at Luke's? My darling daughter, too busy for her own mother, slowly pining away, dying of loneliness..."  
  
"You can not die of loneliness, Mum," Rory argued.  
  
"Oh, no?" Lorelai gagged, falling dramatically onto Rory's lap.  
  
"Okay, okay! But you owe me..." Rory compromised.  
  
The close pair walked out the door and down the road to Luke's diner. As they entered, Jess stormed out angrily, shouting backwards at Luke, "You can't run my life!" When he turned around and saw Rory he added, "I can go and see Shane where I like - when I like!"  
  
Pushing past brusquely, he added, "See you, Rory," in a tone that annoyed Rory, although she could not just identify why as yet.  
  
Rory ignored him.  
  
"What's his problem? Oh, hi Luke! Give us the usual and hurry - Rory's got to get to school," Lorelai said.  
  
"Coming right up, O Queen of the Coffees," Luke said dryly as he worked the coffee machine expertly. In minutes he was back with the girls, offering them their coffee diligently.  
  
"Aaaw...thanks Luke, I was joking - you didn't have to be snappy."  
  
"Whatever," Luke left.  
  
"So, Rory! How's Lane? We haven't heard from her in a while, have we?"  
  
Rory wasn't listening, looking preoccupiedly at the shrinking figure of Jess entering the mechanics store where Shane worked.  
  
"Hello? Hello!? We're here in Earth. Where are you?"  
  
When Rory still didn't respond Lorelai became worried, "What's wrong, Rory?"  
  
Suddenly snapping out of her trance-like state she said, "Huh? What?"  
  
"How - is - Lane, - Rory. - We - haven't - been - hearing - from - her."  
  
"Oh, right...Lane. Her Mum found the photo of her with her hair dyed and went ballistic. Lane's been grounded for 3 years - but she gets days off if she's lucky," Rory said listlessly, staring at the mechanical shop as though it were going to explode.  
  
"Rory - what's really going on?"  
  
"Huh, what? Nothing's going on," Rory, the picture of innocence.  
  
"Oh my....God - I don't believe it," Lorelai ranted, "It's Jess, isn't it?"  
  
"Jess? Jess who? What about Jess??"  
  
"You know - Jess - Luke's nephew, the boy that caused you and Dean to break up?"  
  
"He did not cause Dean and I to break up - it was a mutual decision," Rory cried defensively.  
  
"Oh, sure, Rory," Lorelai retorted, sarcastic, "Look, why don't you just get it over with and ask him out!?"  
  
"Oh, yeah - I'm sure that Dean will just be jumping with joy at the very thought!"  
  
"Look, Rory - I'm just trying to help you - I'm looking out for your best interests at heart - you know that. And you also know that I know that you and Jess should get together, and, by gum are you and him going to cause a spark in Stars Hollow!"  
  
"Mum, Jess and I are not going to get together - Jess and I will never get together."  
  
"Sure you will!" Lorelai smiled, "I mean, I never really liked him after he nearly killed you in the accident, but I'm willing to forgive him if he gives you the star treatment," she hit Rory playfully.  
  
"Mum! Jess and I will never, EVER get together! So stop acting like...like we're going to elope or something!"  
  
"Jesus, Rory! Calm down! I was just joking - you know...'cracking a joke'? It does exist you know."  
  
"Well, Mum, you're not being very funny right now, so if you'll excuse me, I have to get to Chilton before the bell rings," Rory grabbed her bags and ran out of the diner in a huff... 


	2. A Tough Decision

Rory stormed off the bus home from Chilton that afternoon. She had been in a bad mood the whole day.  
  
"How could he?" she raged in her head.   
  
She took her time walking home from school, "Jess knew that I didn't like Shane! He just did it to rub it into my face! How could he!!"  
  
Her mood didn't improve and as she walked home she steered away from Luke's diner, therefore adding 10 minutes to her walk home.  
  
Walking slowly, with her head down, she thought over and over again to the 'meeting' in the diner. The conversation - everything that took place. The tone in which he had talked to her...and then she began thinking about other things - how his unshaved stubble had looked so attractive, how his eyes gleamed a chocolatey brown, the messy, but oh so alluring way his hair was rumpled into that trademark Jess hairstyle.  
  
She marvelled at how his face could send her heart into tremors - minor earthquakes even, and then she detested how that same Adonis-like face could send her into tears, hating herself for being attracted to him in the first place.  
  
"Why!? Why!?" she moaned inwardly, balancing on the kerb.  
  
Suddenly, just as she was nearly at the end of the road, she bumped into someone.  
  
So engrossed in her thoughts and so annoyed about Jess, she didn't realise who she'd hit quite immediately, "Watch where you're going!" she said sourly.  
  
"Excuse me? Watch where I'm going?"  
  
Alarm bells sounded in Rory's head - she knew that voice - she'd recognize it anywhere, "Go away, Jess, I don't want to talk to you."  
  
"Well, sorry, Miss High and Mighty, but I think I should teach you how to watch where you're going next time - can't have you knocking into people everywhere, wouldn't want you to have an accident, now would we?"  
  
"That self-conceited, arrogant....pig!" Rory marvelled at his chauvinism. To his face, she said, "Look, Jess - I'm really tired, I don't exactly want to talk right now. And I have to go home. My Mum's waiting for me."  
  
"Ooooh-kay, maybe next time then," Jess said nonchalantly.  
  
How she hated his self-important talk! Who did he think he was? "Why don't you just go back and...and kiss Shane or something?"  
  
"...Maybe I don't want to," Jess caught her by surprise.  
  
Embarrassed, Rory said, "Well - then...don't you have to go to Wal-Mart and work or something?" her cheeks flamed.  
  
"Nope," Jess quipped.  
  
"Yeah, well - other people have commitments - unlike some....some....'other' people who might not!"  
  
"How can you possibly have any commitments without Dean around?" Jess asked innocently.  
  
Rory looked up, startled at the harshness of his words, and acted impulsively. She slapped him on the cheek as hard as she could and ran home.  
  
* * *  
  
"What happened, hun, are you okay?" Lorelai asked, concerned.  
  
"I'm fine - leave me alone," Rory ran to her room, eyes streaming.  
  
Two hours later, Lorelai felt safe approaching Rory again. Knocking on the door, she went inside her bedroom and sat down on the pink frilly bed.  
  
"Leave me alone!"  
  
"I'm just trying to help, Rory! Now, are you going to tell me what's wrong or not!?"  
  
Rory looked at her helplessly, daughter to mother, "...Yes...!"  
  
"Okay, why don't you start at the beginning, honey," Lorelai said stroking Rory's head, then cautiously added, "This has to do with Jess, doesn't it?"  
  
"...Yes..."  
  
"What's wrong, Rory?"  
  
"Nothing's wrong with me, Mum! It's Jess! It's always Jess! How can he be so darn good-looking, and still so annoying Mum! I met him today, on the way back from school, and he was acting so self-righteous...like - like he was my brother or something! Why can't he just lay off my life for once! I can't help it - I can't stop thinking about it - I haven't stopped thinking about it since we met him in the diner! Oh, Mum - help me, please help me!"  
  
"Oooh-kay...whoa, that's a lot to take in, Rory. Sadly, Jess is just the way he is. I'm sure we'd all love it if he was perfect boyfriend material like Dea - I mean, like...like, some boys I know. But he's not - and you have to accept him that way, no matter how much you hate it."  
  
"You can say 'Dean', Mum, I'm not going to explode into tears or anything."  
  
"Okay...he may not be perfect boyfriend material like Dean but -"  
  
Lorelai was stopped short by a sob from Rory before she burst into tears, "Mum - I miss him! I miss him like hell! But, why - why! I mean - I love him, but I think...I think...that I love Jess more," she said the last few words so sincerely that even Lorelai was stunned.  
  
"Oh...kay....erm...have you thought this through, Rory?"  
  
"How many times do I have to say it, Mum! I've been thinking about it the whole day! And it's killing me! It's eating into my mind! I couldn't concentrate in classes, couldn't listen to Lane, couldn't even eat properly at lunch-time! What's wrong with him? ...What's wrong with me...?"  
  
"Nothing is wrong with you, Rory," Lorelai added comfortingly, opening her arms wide. Rory leant gratefully into her Mum's warm embrace, "I just don't know...what should I do now, Mum?"  
  
"It's totally up to you whether you choose to go out with him or not."  
  
"But that's exactly it, Mum - I don't know if I should go out with him!" she moaned, "Why can't someone just, I don't know, invent a decision-maker for you or something - then life wouldn't be so complicated, would it?"  
  
"That's the easy way out, Rory - it's up to you - I know this may be a hard choice to make, but in the end - I know you'll make the right one," Lorelai kissed her on the top of her head and left the room.  
  
Rory was left to go to sleep early and think about the pressing question - did she love Jess enough to want to go out with him?  
  
NOTE: Thanks to everyone who pointed out that I had misspelt Jess and Lane! It won't happen again - please keep those comments coming! Thanks also to Jessica for her suggestion of Rory bumping into Jess after school! I've also made some changes to detail. 


	3. A Blast From The Past

The shaft of light from the curtain burned through Rory's eyes, agonizingly, turning her whole world red. Grumbling, she sleepily pulled the plush doona over her head, "Mum, it can't be time to wake up yet," she murmured.  
  
"Sure it is, sunshine!" Lorelai grinned, perky as ever, "C'mon, if you get ready now we can stay longer at Luke's!"  
  
"I'm not sure I want to go to Luke's today Mum," Rory mumbled.  
  
"Sure you do!" Lorelai pulled at Rory's hand, "Come on! Hurry up, sleepyhead - you have to get to school in time - don't forget, you were late yesterday!"  
  
"Okay, okay, I'm coming," Rory forced herself up and out of bed. Dressed in blue teddy bear pajamas she sleepwalked sleepily to the bathroom, "I'll be out in a sec."  
  
***  
  
When Rory came out, the two set off to Luke's, "Mum - honestly, I really don't want to go to Luke's - please, please, can we go somewhere else? Like to the Inn or something? Don't you serve breakfast there?"  
  
"Na'uh, Rory, it's too far away - besides, we always go to Luke's in the morning! It'd be like breaking a family tradition."  
  
Rory stopped short in her tracks, "You go ahead then, I'll just get to school. I have to go early to do some homework."  
  
Lorelai stopped too and turned to face her daughter, "Look - Rory. You're sleepy. You know what sleepyheads need? Caffeine! It's good for the system!" She rubbed her stomach, "Yum, yum, rich, milky coffee...Mmmm..."  
  
"Okay, okay, but can we please do it really quickly?"  
  
"I am insulted, Rory Gilmore! I am the Queen of the Swift."  
  
Rory rolled her eyes as Lorelai pushed through the doors inside to Luke's diner.  
  
"Hey, Luke."  
  
"Lorelai. Rory," Luke acknowledged them warily, "What'll it be?"  
  
"The usual - and this time - hurry - yesterday I was joking but, oh, ho, no, today we really need to be quick! Rory has to do some homework before school."  
  
"Coming right up..."  
  
The two girls sat down at their usual table, Rory facing Luke's bar. She kept her head down, and yet, not low enough to completely miss 'all' signs of people - as much as she hated to admit it, she was looking out for Jess. She cursed herself for being so atttracted to him.   
  
Yesterday she had admitted to herself (to her horror) that, yes - she did like Jess. No - she loved Jess. With all her heart. With Dean it had been a teenage crush - a long-lived teenage crush, to be sure, but with Jess - it was different. They were so...so far apart, and yet so right. "Opposites attract," she snorted ironically.  
  
Luke came up to them with two steaming cups of coffees in his hands.  
  
"Thanks, Luke," Lorelai said.  
  
"Whatever," Luke turned away, and then came back and whispered to Rory, "Are you okay? I just wanted to make sure that Jess wasn't harrassing you. Yesterday he came back all weird-looking, and he didn't even go out to meet that girlfriend of his."  
  
"I'm fine," Rory mumbled into her coffee, and proceeded to burn her tongue on the bitter liquid, "Ouch."  
  
"Okay - but you tell me the moment he starts provoking you, I know how much of a handful he can be - believe you me," Luke promised.  
  
"I'll remember," Rory said as lightly as she could.  
  
Suddenly, Rory noticed that another figure had come into her immediate vision.  
  
Jess...  
  
"Erm, I have to go now, Mum," Rory said hurriedly.  
  
"What? Now?! But you haven't even had a sip of your coffee!" Lorelai protested, latching herself onto her daughter's arm.  
  
"It's okay, Mum, you can have the extra. See you after school," Rory grabbed her schoolbag and left as conspicuosly as she could, looking at Jess through the corner of her eye.  
  
She walked out and breathed in the light, spritzy summer air, "Please don't follow me, please don't follow me," she murmured under her breath, like a chant.  
  
"Rory!" she heard her name being called.  
  
She braced herself for Jess' overpowering frame to just tower over her, and unavoidably provoke her so much. She turned around, feeling as uncomfortable as possible, wishing she could just sink into the gravel. When she saw what greeted her, her eyes widened, her mouth dropped, and a half-formed word wormed it's way out of her mouth.  
  
"Tristan...?" 


	4. A Missing Encounter

"Hi, Rory..." Tristan began.  
  
Rory barely heard Tristan's words, for she saw, out of the corner of her eye that Jess was walking out of the diner, an apologetic look on his face - thankfully with his head down so he hadn't caught eye of Tristan yet.  
  
"Erm, Tristan - I'd love to stay and chat but..." Rory stole another glance at Jess, "Unfortunately, I have to get to Chilton - I'd appreciate it if you went away. Now."  
  
"But that's the good news, Rory! I'm coming back to Chilton!" Tristan smiled.  
  
"Well. Great and all, but I would really like you to go away now. I'll talk to you later."  
  
"B...but..." Tristan was not used to girls not falling head over heels for him, offering to go with him to whatever social dance was coming up next.  
  
"Go! Now!" Rory ordered.  
  
So stunned by Rory's outburst, and her change from her mild demeanour, Tristan quickly walked off, hoping none of the girls at Chilton had seen him and laughed at him.  
  
Meanwhile, Rory fussed with her hair, and straightened her school skirt as Jess slowly approached, still head-down. She waited for his apology - was just bursting to tell him that she forgave him and, yes - she wanted to be his girlfriend - oh yes how she did!  
  
Jess was coming closer, and closer...and then he just brushed past her and walked away in the direction of the mechanical store...  
  
NOTE: Sorry that this was such a short chapter! It's just that I wanted to keep the cliffhanger there! I will be writing the next chapter very soon! Tell me what you think about the story so far. Also, I know this sounds lame, but if anyone has any information about Tristan (I haven't watched the older episodes) can you please write me a review containing it so that I don't stuff up future chapters? Thanks! :) 


	5. A Secret Letter

Rory Gilmore was not a happy camper.  
  
That day, as she sat looking dejectedly at her mash potatoes during lunch-time, her copy of 'Pride and Prejudice' pushed aside (unusually so) on her table, she felt like the most miserable student in the room. She looked around.  
  
Students laughing, planning things to do over the first term school holidays (which were just around the corner) and just...being happy and content in general.  
  
"This is no fun," she said to her book.  
  
Sighing, she picked it up.  
  
And then put it down again a moment later.  
  
She began to daydream about Jess. And then, annoyingly, Dean and Tristan's faces pushed in as well, asking for air-time in her thoughts.  
  
"Go - away, - I - want - to - think - about - Jess!" she said with gritted teeth to herself. The apparitions disappeared in her mind quickly as someone sat next to her unexpectedly.  
  
"What is it, Paris? I'm busy," she sighed, turning to face her classmate.  
  
"Rory..."  
  
It was Tristan.  
  
Rory's cheeks flamed, "I - I thought that you were Paris."  
  
"No biggy," Tristan shrugged. He felt comfortable again - apparently, Rory was latching onto his every word. He avoided the embarrassing subject of that morning's encounter, "So...are you free this week-end?"  
  
Rory stared at him in disbelief, "What?!"  
  
"Are you free this week-end? We can...you know, go watch a movie or something?"  
  
"Tristan - you just moved back to Stars Hollow - how do you even know if Dean and I are still together? And even if we weren't, what makes you think I want to go out with you right now?"  
  
Coolly, Tristan said, "I asked around. Found out you had no-one special in your life." A moment later, "So, about this week-end..."  
  
Rory stared again, unable to swallow what he had said, "Excuse me, Tristan - but, yes - I do have a 'special' someone 'in my life' so you can just go and choke on your stupid invitation and go ask out some preppy cheerleader who WOULD drool over you, because you know what? I don't want you."  
  
It took Tristan some time to recover, but when he did, he asked, "So would you enlighten me on who this 'special someone' is?"  
  
For the third time that day Rory stared at him in disbelief, "No!" she cried, grabbed her bag, lunch and book, and stormed out of the canteen, leaving Tristan stranded. He shrugged, "What did I say?"  
  
***  
  
Rory got off the school bus, unhappy just like yesterday. Although this time mingled in was disbelief and despair. She walked home, flung her school uniform into the laundry room, changed and grabbed a Mars bar from the fridge.  
  
Lorelai walked into the kitchen just then, "Hi, honey, how was school? I must tell you - you should never leave me stranded again in Luke's diner. That is an absolute no-no. Now, I'm never going to be able to sleep tonight!"  
  
"You said caffeine was good," Rory remarked.  
  
"Don't you twist my words around, young lady!" Lorelai smiled.  
  
They sat together in silence for a while.  
  
"Tristan's back," Rory blurted.  
  
"What?! Tristan? That guy with the funny-looking blonde hair?"  
  
Rory smiled despite herself, "Yes."  
  
"Okay."  
  
They sat quietly again. Then Lorelai left the room, "I got to go out for a while honey - I just realised I left some papers at the Inn."  
  
"Okay Mum, bye - see you tonight..."  
  
Lorelai grabbed her coat and walked out the door.  
  
"Oh, and Mum?"  
  
"Yes, honey?"  
  
"Don't forget you have to wash my school uniform in time for tomorrow."  
  
"Aaww..." Lorelai pouted, "My hands don't cope well with menial tasks!"  
  
Rory gave her a look.  
  
"All right, all right." She muttered under her breath, "Slavedriver."  
  
"I heard that!" Rory said, feeling better already.  
  
"Okay okay, bye hun! Dinner's in the fridge."  
  
"Okay, bye-bye."  
  
***  
  
That night, as Rory was just completing some homework, Lorelai bounded into the room.   
  
"You left some things in your blazer pocket, Ror," Lorelai said. In her outstretched hand, Rory could see a rubber band, 50 cents, a piece of folded up paper, and two apple seeds.  
  
Rory grabbed them from her, rolling her eyes.  
  
Lorelai sighed and walked out the door, "Oh, and Mum, thanks for washing!" Rory called out.  
  
"You're welcome!"  
  
When Rory was left alone again to her own devices, she suddenly realised that she didn't know what the paper was. She reached out for it and opened it. The thing that jumped out almost immediately from the page were the words, "Love, Jess..." 


	6. A Soul Revealed

...It almost felt as though Rory's blood had stopped pumping, her heart stopped beating, her eyes stopped blinking...but for some weird reason, she could not control the fact that her hands were shaking so terribly that the paper almost tore...  
  
Her eyes scanned the piece of paper as though it were the most important thing in the world, and her brain took in and memorised each and every word before she was even aware of it herself.  
  
Jess' scrawly, but perfectly imperfect handwriting covered half the page, and there were many words scratched out so violently here and there that there were little holes dotting the paper.  
  
***  
  
"Dear Rory," it began.  
  
"I'm sorry about the way I was so disrespectful about Dean before. I don't know how to express the way I feel - I guess" (a huge scratch) "I was jealous." (another huge scratch) "I was jealous that he had such a beautiful, such a perfect girlfriend, and I supposed it was just me trying to hide the truth from myself, and so that's why I said something as stupid as that."  
  
"I know that this will hardly justify what I said to you, and I hope that you can find it in your," (a scratch), "heart to forgive me, and maybe we can be," (5 cms worth of scratches) "friends."  
  
"I also know that we haven't exactly made the best start in terms of friendliness, and it was mostly the fault on my part. I would really like to get to know you more." (scratch) "You're not like other girls, Rory. You're not shallow like they are. You're smart, funny, intelligent, and everything that..." (there were a few lines of intelligible scrawls after that which Rory squinted to read, but could not for the life of her decipher)  
  
"Love, Jess."  
  
***  
  
Rory sighed with happiness, holding the letter to her heart, but taking much care not to crease or crinkle it. After a few minutes, she laid it down on the table and put it under some dictionaries to straighten it.  
  
Rory realised how obsessive her actions were, but at this stage she really couldn't care anymore. To the best of her knowledge, Jess had put the letter into her blazer pocket as he'd brushed past her before school that day. Plus (!!) he had more or less admitted that he loved (or at least, really really liked) her, and that put Rory on top of the world.  
  
She whizzed through her homework like never before, and emerged 20 minutes later with energy to spare. Then, suddenly she realised the importance of what Jess had said, and the consequences that would undoubtedly follow regardless of the option she chose - whether or not to go out with Jess.  
  
On the one hand, she would be completely happy and satisfied to be Jess' girlfriend, but on the other hand Dean would hold the biggest grudge against her like never before. And if she didn't become Jess' girlfriend, she would feel so completely miserable that she'd never be able to concentrate on anything ever again - but Dean and her could still hopefully patch up.  
  
Admitting these consequences to herself took a lot of self-determination on Rory's part, and she felt as though she 'deserved' to have Jess as her boyfriend. But then again it was far too complicated! Not to mention what Lorelai and Lane would think!  
  
Wait a minute - would she even tell Lorelai and Lane about Jess? No doubt they'd try to be supportive, but at the end of the day they really did dislike him and they all thought that she should be with Dean - that she'd completely stuffed up her only chance of complete happiness with a boy who truly loved her the way she was.  
  
"Rory!!" Lorelai's voice totally disrupted her daughter's thoughts.  
  
Rory shook her head, "I won't tell her just yet...maybe later," she promised herself. To Lorelai, she shouted, "What?"  
  
"Dinner! Chinese food! Nice and warm, just the way you like it!"  
  
"Coming!" Rory sighed to herself and heaved herself up from her chair. As she did, she caught sight of a corner of Jess' letter poking out from her French bilingual dictionary.  
  
Rory smiled and left the room.  
  
NOTE: Just a note to Tara, yes I do live in Australia. Good guess! :) Thanks to everyone who reviewed me, and please keep your suggestions and comments coming! Also, I don't know what the likeliness is of Jess writing such a soppy letter like that, but hey, that's the beauty of fanfiction, isn't it? :) 


	7. A Stolen Kiss

Rory approached the diner next morning with what could only be described as apprehension deep in her throat. Latching onto Lorelai's arm, the pair walked into the diner. Rory nervously scanned around.  
  
Good, Jess wasn't there.   
  
Suddenly, she felt mixed feelings. Shouldn't she be upset that Jess wasn't there? For some weird reason, she wasn't. It was almost as though she only liked him from afar or something.  
  
The whole coffee shop routine passed without an incident and by then Rory was beginning to wonder where Jess was.  
  
***  
  
As Rory got off the bus from Chilton that day, a mere 10 minutes walk from her house, she was surprised to see an unusual sight.   
  
Jess was perched on the bus stop chair, fidgeting with his copy of 'Catcher in The Rye'. As Rory approached cautiously he looked up slowly, "Hi, Rory," he said uncertainly.  
  
"Hi, Jess," Rory replied quietly.  
  
The two just faced each other for five minutes, silently, not aware of anything else happening around them.  
  
Rory was the first to break their gaze, her cheeks blushing a rosy red, the picture of Jess' face engraved in her mind forevermore. She remembered kissing him - it had seemed so long ago, and she yearned to kiss him again.   
  
The letter that he had given her layed cherished in her blazer pocket. She put her hand in and drew it out, "I read it," she murmured.  
  
"...That's good."  
  
"...Except," Rory began boldly, "I don't understand what you were trying to write in this last sentence," she pointed shakily to Jess' indecipherable handwriting.  
  
Jess started to look uncomfortable, "I-I," he began, and then cleared his throat, "What I meant to say was," he held Rory's hands and the letter spiralled gently to the ground, "You're smart, funny, intelligent, and...and everything that someone like me could ever dream of in their entire life..." he trailed off uncertainly.  
  
Slowly - tenderly, Jess moved forward and closed off the mere centimetres that had seperated them just moments before, and more importantly, tilted Rory's chin up and brought her lips to his.   
  
Their lips brushed every so slightly, and yet Rory could feel red alarms go off in her head as her every nerve tingled with anticipation and delight. She kissed him back, definitely not wanting to waste the moment.  
  
She closed her eyes slowly, as the kiss intensified and Jess whispered clearly into her mouth, "I love you..." 


	8. An Unwelcome Invitation

As the two slowly pulled away Jess whispered, "I broke up with Shane today."  
  
Rory looked up at him, surprised, "...Oh."  
  
"Yes..." Jess looked embarrassed - a rare occurance if anyone knew him.  
  
"So..." Rory blushed, knowing that he (and could it be that she too?) wanted her to break up with Dean so that they could finally be the couple that they should be. Thoughts drifted around in Rory's head. Dean. Jess. Dean. Jess.  
  
Dean's smiling, trustworthy face.  
  
Jess' secretive smile, and his gorgeous eyes.  
  
"I-I have to go now," Rory stammered, tears streaming from her eyes. When she reached home she was relieved to see that Lorelai wasn't back from the inn yet.  
  
Seeking solace in her room, she ran in and cried her eyes out. She was sad - so sad that she had to break up with him. He was her first kiss. Her first love. But Jess was also her now. Her everything. After half-an-hour she came up with the conclusion that she had to break up for real with Dean.  
  
She called him on his home phone.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
It was Dean. She never expected him to pick up - he usually wasn't in at this time - he'd either be working or at some after-school activity. She slammed the phone down.  
  
She lay in a foetus-like position on the bed, as her tears eventually dried up and her nose turned back its normal colour. By this time, Lorelai was home and she cried out cheerily, "Hi, Rory! I'm back!" She poked her head into Rory's room, smiling, "How was your day?"  
  
Rory looked at Lorelai, contemplating whether to tell the truth - essentially, yes - she should have told her Mum - she was, after all, her best friend in the whole wide world - heck, she had brought Rory into the world! And up to this point - yes, they had told each other everything. Rory wondered if it was time to break the unspoken bond of sharing everything with each other.  
  
"It was fine," Rory said glumly, her still-puffy eyes concealed behind her long brown fringe.  
  
"Okay!" Lorelai bounded off, seemingly in an extremely good mood.  
  
Rory turned back to the phone. It was just sitting there - Dean was on Speed Dial 2, after Lorelai's cell phone number. She reached slowly for the receiver, promising herself this time that she would break it off once and for all.  
  
"Rory!" she heard her mother's voice call from the front yard.  
  
She quickly replaced the receiver and ran out, "What?"  
  
"Look what came in the mail!"  
  
"What?" Rory bounded to the mailbox. In her mother's hand laid a fancy, rose-scented envelope - which looked extremely pricey and classy. "What is it?" Rory asked curiously.  
  
"You tell me!" Lorelai cried excitedly, jumping up and down, pointing to the front of the envelope. Calligraphied finely were the words 'Rory Gilmore' and then her address. On the back, it said, 'I love you. Dean.'  
  
"Oh...God..." Rory gasped, taking the letter off her mother's hands. The pair ran back inside - well, actually Lorelai did, but Rory sort of shuffled back onto the verendah. By this time, Lorelai had produced a pair of scissors.  
  
"What are those for?" Rory asked, still dazed.  
  
"What's the matter with you? You know - scissors - snip, snip - open up the envelope already!" Lorelai smiled, pushing the scissors into Rory's hands.  
  
"Okay..." Rory shakily slit open the side of the envelope. A neatly folded piece of expensive-looking paper fell out. With it came a little key, attached on a rose-coloured ribbon.  
  
"Mum?" Rory asked.  
  
"Yes, hun?"  
  
"Is it okay if I read this...in...in private?"  
  
Lorelai looked back at her daughter in disbelief - they usually shared everything with each other. Why the sudden change? On the outside she tried to react calmly, "Sure - I'm certain that Dean has some secret lovebirds stuff to tell you!" She winked and walked back into the kitchen to make some coffee.  
  
Rory walked slowly into her bedroom. She opened the envelope and began to read...  
  
***  
  
"Dear Rory," it began in Dean's perfect handwriting.  
  
"I'm so sorry for going completely crazy over Jess at the dance marathon. I know that he was really annoying you and I shouldn't have had reacted the way I had. You're probably really mad at me now and I can understand why."  
  
"I know it won't really help, but if you want to, I have booked us in at the Promenade Hotel for two nights this Saturday. If you want to patch things up, please meet me in Room 2207 on Saturday night at 8:30 pm. I will wait for you until 9:00 pm. If you don't come I'll know it was never meant to be...enclosed is the key."  
  
"I love you. Dean."  
  
***  
  
Rory gasped. The Promenade Hotel was a five-star hotel on the edge of Stars Hollow - how could Dean afford this on his salary? This probably meant that he had to do multiple jobs at once, as well as borrowing money off his parents - and all this trouble for her?  
  
Rory started crying - no, bawling her eyes out. No way did she deserve Dean! He was far too good for her! He loved her, even though she had more or less cheated and two-timed him with Jess! Although she loved Jess, she didn't want to break Dean's heart. He shouldn't be the one apologising to her! She should apologise to him - on her hands and knees, and beg for his forgiveness!  
  
What would she do? Shakily, she shouted, "Mum? Are you there?"  
  
Immediately, Lorelai appeared, "Yes, honey, right here..." when she saw Rory crying she rushed over, "What's wrong? What's wrong, Rory?"  
  
At this moment, Rory just burst and told Lorelai everything. How Jess had given her the letter, what it had said, that stolen kiss at the bus stop, how she was going to break up with Dean until his letter had come - everything. After what had seemed like hours, Rory had finally told her the whole story.  
  
Lorelai looked stunned, "Are you going to go to the Promenade?" she asked Rory, subdued.  
  
"I don't know, Mum! What should I do!"  
  
"I'm not sure, Rory. It's up to you," Lorelai said mechanically. She couldn't believe that Rory didn't want to go back with Dean. The two were like Romeo and Juliet together, Aladdin and Jasmine, Cinderella and the Prince...Lorelai's mind ran out of other Walt Disney couples to compare Rory and Dean to. She left the room, but not before saying, "Saturday is in two days, Rory..." 


	9. A Lonely Heart

All the events of the past few days flashed by in Rory's head. She marvelled at how so much had happened in so little time. And still the pressing question of whether or not to go to the Promenade rested on her shoulders.  
  
Jess.  
  
Dean.  
  
Jess said he loved her.  
  
Dean really loved her.  
  
Who would give up all of their time, money...love for some girl that they weren't even sure would return it? There was so much more to Dean than met the eye - he was so thoughtful, so forgiving, and Rory was hardly deserving of his love...  
  
***  
  
It was Saturday night.  
  
The past two days had flashed by so quickly, with nothing of much importance happening. Tristan would bump into her in the halls ("Accidentally!") occasionally, and smirk, Jess was nowhere to be seen - there had been no contact with him since her embarrassing runaway, and Dean? Well. She would just have to see.  
  
It was already 5:00 in the afternoon and she had no idea whether she was going to the Promenade after all. If she was going to reach there in time, she'd have to leave by 7:00 at the very latest. She sighed.  
  
Moments later she stood up and looked through her cupboard for a suitable dress to wear...  
  
***  
  
Dean checked his handwatch. 8:50 pm exactly. Was Rory going to come? Was she? Wasn't she? He was going to call her in the afternoon and ask, but had chickened out. Did the letter he sent her even reach her? What if it'd gotten lost? Maybe that's why Rory didn't come. But then again - what if it hadn't gotten lost? And Rory hadn't come...?  
  
Dean was seating on a table for two which he had especially set by himself. A lacy tablecloth covered it, and candles were lit romantically. There were ruby red roses littering the hotel room, and a dozen roses on Rory's chair - which was still empty.  
  
On the untouched plates was pasta cooked by 'the finest chef in the hotel'. There was red wine in the little goblets, but most importantly there was Dean. On his chair. In the most expensive tuxedo that he could hire.  
  
Dean checked his watch again. 9:02 pm. This was not looking good. He decided to wait until 9:30 pm. After all, Rory could be late. Delayed...couldn't she? The Promenade was pretty far away from her house.  
  
***  
  
It was 10:00 pm. A survey of room 2207 of the Promenade hotel revealed that Dean's pasta had been half-eaten, the candles had burned to stubs, and the roses were wilting throughout the suite. And there was no Rory there.  
  
Dean looked miserably at the roses on Rory's chair. He had envisioned the night to be glamorous. He would've made up with her - they could've gotten back together. He loved Rory. Now where was she?  
  
He'd told her he'd know it wasn't meant to be at 9:00. Now it was 10:00.  
  
"Face it, Dean," he growled angrily to himself, "...It wasn't meant to be." 


	10. A Friend In Need

Rory lay alone in her bedroom, sobbing into her pillow. Two hours ago, she had told Lorelai that she wasn't going to the Promenade after all. Rory had changed into a pink strapless dress from a previous occasion, and was all made up and ready to go when she realised that...that she just couldn't.  
  
She couldn't lead Dean on - on a false thread of hope when to her it was more than over. She lay on the bed - had been for more than an hour - gradually crumpling her exquisite full skirt.   
  
Lorelai was away - she had gone to Luke's to take-away a coffee for the both of them. Rory smiled through her tears. Good old Lorelai. She always knew what to do when her daughter was depressed...  
  
***  
  
15 minutes later, when Rory had fallen asleep, despite trying to work up the courage to call Dean, Lorelai entered the house.  
  
She tip-toed to Rory's room. Laying the steaming cups of coffee on Rory's study table she bent down and kissed her daughter's forehead tenderly.  
  
"Rory...Rory!" she whispered urgently.  
  
"What..." Rory mumbled, her mascara dried in tear lines around her face. Slowly she sat up, rubbed her eyes and took notice of her surroundings. Suddenly she sat up stock still and looked suspiciously at the doorway, "Mum..." she warned.  
  
"What?" Lorelai asked innocently and smiled, leaving the room.  
  
Moments later, the shadowy figure that had been standing outside Rory's bedroom door entered.  
  
"Hello," Jess said hoarsely.  
  
"Hi..." Rory hid her head in her pillow, embarrassed, "Why are you here?"  
  
"Your mother told me about...about what happened with Dean at the diner - and she..." Jess licked his lips nervously, "she asked me to come..." Jess trailed off uncomfortably.   
  
He stood in the middle of the room uncertainly, taking in everything. Rory's wardrobe door stood slightly ajar and the obvious sight of her intimates set Jess' cheeks on fire.  
  
"You can sit down..." Rory said, her voice muffled by the pillow.  
  
Jess looked around - there was a small chair next to Rory's study table piled to the top with dictionaries, school-books, and Harvard pamphlets. Instead, he perched on the edge of Rory's tiny single bed.  
  
She inched in even more.  
  
"So...are you okay?" Jess asked, pulling the pillow slowly off her face.  
  
"...I don't know," Rory peered up from under the covers. The scratchy chiffon of her dress was really annoying her, "I suppose so." She sat up and leant against the wall, "I," she started sobbing, "I know I don't exactly look presentable," she gulped, "I really wanted to go tonight!! But I couldn't, Jess, I couldn't! Not if...not if I really loved you instead."  
  
"Rory..." Jess whispered tenderly, tucking a stray tendril of hair away from Rory's face, "You look more beautiful right now than you ever have in your life," he began honestly, "You always look beautiful. And..." he paused, "And I love you too."  
  
He slowly moved in and he brushed his lips tenderly with Rory's, then began kissing her intensely. Rory kissed him back, and held onto him for life, "I love you so much, Jess," she whispered, her eyes shining with happiness, "I love you...I love you."  
  
***  
  
"Jess? Rory?" Lorelai asked, peering into her daughter's bedroom. She knew that it hadn't exactly been a wise decision to leave the two teenagers. Alone. In Rory's bedroom. But she knew that Rory was responsible, and she wouldn't let any funny business go on.  
  
But still...Lorelai heaved a sigh of relief when she entered the room and saw Rory propped comfortably on Jess' shoulders ("With her clothes on, thank God!" Lorelai thought immediately). The two were asleep, Jess snoring softly, and Rory smiling subconsciously.  
  
"Jess? Rory?!" Lorelai called louder.  
  
Jess jumped awake in fright. "Lorelai?" he asked, squinting through the morning light, "What time is it?"  
  
"It's 10:30. Ripe and early on Sunday morning. Now get up, sleepyheads!" she smiled. Jess nudged Rory and she opened her eyes slowly, still smiling. "Mum?" her smile diminished, suddenly uncomfortable in her mother's presence.  
  
"It's okay, Rory, geez, you act as though you were doing something bad..." Lorelai purred suggestively, laughing uncontrollably.  
  
"Mum!" Rory protested, throwing her pillow at Lorelai.  
  
"Okay, okay, I'll leave now, but hurry up - let's get to Luke's! I want to tell him the good news!" Lorelai added mischeviously.  
  
NOTE: I know this was a bit too imaginative - especially the bit where Rory 'declares' her love for Jess - I'm sorry! I have a really soppy imagination! Please R & R! 


	11. A Rejected Apology

***  
  
"Beep! We're not here right now. Please leave a message and we'll get back to you as soon as we ca-"  
  
Rory slammed down the phone. She'd been trying to call Dean for the past few days, but it seemed as though he was trying to stay as far away from the phone as possible - and succeeding, too.  
  
She could hardly blame him though. Come on. What would she have done if Dean didn't turn up to a fancy dinner she'd prepared for him and instead turned to...to someone like Shane instead?!  
  
Rory sobbed. She'd be mad if she was Dean. Livid - seething, to tell the truth. She couldn't help it. She loved Jess with all her heart. She supposed she knew it all along - that one day she and Dean would have to break it all of completely.  
  
She admitted that there had once been a time when she was naive enough to believe that maybe - just maybe, she and Dean would get married - but that was a long time ago...  
  
She couldn't believe that Dean could still find it in his heart to forgive her after all she'd done to him, she'd betrayed him - stabbed him in the back...she cried tearfully.  
  
Shakily she picked up the phone receiver again and dialed. She sat on the floor miserably as it rang...  
  
"Beep! We're not here right now. Please lea-"  
  
- Slam! - Rory slammed the phone down again viciously. She saw that there was no way around it - she'd have to leave a message for Dean. What would she say? Sorry? She had to explain about Jess, but she had to explain it face-to-face, or at least voice-to-voice.  
  
She suddenly realised what she had to do. Grabbing her denim jacket from the coathanger in the hall she called out to Lorelai, "I'm-I'm going out for a walk, Mum - I won't be long!"  
  
"Okay, honey!"  
  
***  
  
Rory nervously approached Dean's house. As she walked up the stairs she could see a figure inside, reading a newspaper - it looked suspiciously like Dean. Her fingertip lay poised on the doorbell, ready to ring at anytime...so why couldn't she just press it already?!  
  
...  
  
...No. She couldn't do it. She was such a coward. Why? Why did it have to turn out this way? It was all her fault and she should suffer the consequences - even if it meant never talking to Dean again. This was her last shot before she left for uni.  
  
But she still couldn't do it. Frustrated, Rory sighed and sat on the stone staircase leading up to Dean's front door. Suddenly, it was flung open. Surprised, Rory turned and faced...Dean.  
  
His face was tear-stained. In his hand he clutched a pocket-sized photo of Rory...she'd given it to him when they'd first started going out. Her eyes widened. She couldn't believe he'd still kept it after all these years.  
  
"Dean," it all started pouring out then, "I'm so, so, so sorry!! I-I never meant it to happened this way! I-I'm so sorry...I mean...well I was ready to go! On Saturday! I was dressed up and ready - I swear I was going to go...but at the lasy moment, I-I just couldn't. I chickened out. I suppose you think I'm a fool..." Rory looked down, ashamed, "And then Jess came...I didn't want him to come! Mum just brought him! I had no idea that he was going to come...but then he did, and-and everything just sort of happened that way...please, please don't be mad at me, Dean. I love you, Dean - I always will - but I love Jess more..."  
  
Rory looked down onto her shoelaces as though they were the most important things in the world. Dean didn't say a word...so she turned...and ran. Ran all the way home. And Dean just let her... 


	12. One Sad Jess

When Rory reached home, Jess was already there, lounging on the loveseat in her living room.  
  
"Jess?" she asked, through her tears, "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Lorelai let me in..." he replied.  
  
"Oh...right," Rory still had to get used to the idea that Jess was her boyfriend. BOYFRIEND, of all things! If someone had told her that this would happen a fortnight ago, she'd have told them to jump off a bridge.  
  
"Where did you go?" he asked curiously.  
  
Rory looked at him. Her eyes narrowed, "None of your business," she dismissed.  
  
Jess looked dumbstruck, "I-I-I'm sorry - I didn't mean it that way."  
  
Despite herself, Rory let out a laugh, "Well, if you must know, I went to Dean's to apologise," she said apologetically, and then looked down to the floor, "But I suppose he didn't want to hear it," she whispered softly, as the tears rolled silently down her face, "Gosh," she cajoled herself, "Look at me! I must be a mess, crying like that!" she laughed uneasily - diversion was her only refuge at times like this.  
  
"Rory?" Jess asked slowly.  
  
"...What?"  
  
"You look beautiful no matter what. Even when you're asleep and you're drooling!" he added humorously.  
  
Rory laughed, "Oh, Jess...I don't deserve Dean. I mean, he's been nothing but understanding throughout this whole ordeal and I just can't believe that I was so...so harsh with him!"  
  
Jess looked down silently.  
  
"Sorry, Jess - I know that you don't really like it when I talk about Dean - but you must know, it's you I like - no, love - most, okay?"  
  
"I kno-"  
  
"Shhh..." Rory put her finger to his lips, and then proceeded to bring his face closer to hers. Standing on tippytoes she tipped her face up and met his mouth halfway with her own.  
  
"It's okay, Rory," Jess began as they parted, "It doesn't matter what Dean thinks or does. Who cares anyway?"  
  
"I do!" she said fiercely, all of a sudden, and Jess backed away, stunned. Rory looked hopelessly at the floor, "I do," she whispered, as though she was scared of the effect of her words, "I don't know what's wrong with me, Jess!!" she said, apologizing.  
  
"It's not your fault, Rory," Jess said, uncomfortable.  
  
"All...all I know is that I have to go to Dean and tell him I'm sorry!! Otherwise...otherwise...you know..." she ended weakly.  
  
"It's okay, Rory, I understand," Jess said soothingly, stroking her hair.  
  
"...Let's go now," Rory said, all of a sudden, standing up from the loveseat.  
  
"What!?" Jess asked, dumbstruck.  
  
"Yes - now, that's it...that's what we'll do..." Rory muttered to herself, "Come on, Jess!" she cried as she ran out the front door.   
  
Jess sighed as he slammed the door moodily behind him...why was she being so worked up with Dean? "Jesus," he said under his breath, "You'd think she was still in love with him or something..." 


	13. Back and Forth

"Okay, this time we will, I promise!" Rory said.  
  
"Rory..." Jess said slowly and patiently, "We've been doing this for an hour, and I have got to get back to Luke's before dinnertime."  
  
Rory and Jess were sitting on a park bench near Dean's house. At first, Rory had ran straight to Dean's house but at the stairs she chickened out and turned back. They'd walked back home silently, but her resolve had built up again and she'd ran back to Dean's house, only to turn back once again. This had happened several times before they both finally collapsed onto the bench, Jess exhausted, and Rory contemplative.  
  
"I just can't do it. I can't say sorry...I-I tried to but...I don't think he wants to hear me out," said Rory hoarsely, "But then, who can blame him? I can't believe I was so disrespectful! I mean, the least I could've done was turn up right? And then I could've left. It'd've been much more easier than just letting him wait there for me."   
  
Jess covered his ears. It wasn't because he was jealous, it was just that there was only so much he could hear about Dean (and Rory missing him) before he felt like throwing up. What could he do? That guy just really got on his nerves. It was times like this that Jess felt insecure. He was normally a really confident guy, always hitting on girls, tackling uncomfortable situations head-on....but he was just at a loss at what to say - and do when it came to Rory.  
  
There was this perfect, beautiful girl. His girlfriend, no less, sitting right beside him, and he couldn't even kiss her because it 'wasn't the right time'. Luke had spoken to him about it the night before. Jess was reluctant to take advice from his uncle that was pretty much destined to be a bachelor all his life in Jess' opinion, but something that Luke said had stuck with him.  
  
"Rory might just be using you - unconsciously of course. I'm sorry to say it, but maybe she's going through a mourning period with Dean, and just really needs a friend right now. Just...just don't try to push it or anything if she's still hung up over Dean, okay?"  
  
At that Jess had walked out of the diner, "I'll be back later," he'd said curtly, and then he'd pondered over Luke's words all night.  
  
"...Maybe I should say, 'Dean. I'm sorry. But it's Jess I love now and I just couldn't go on pretending that I loved you when I didn't. I don't want to lead you on...' - oh! How about, 'Dean - it's all my fault. I'm so sorry...Jess and I are together now, but I still want to be friends....'" Rory shook her head, "No that kinda sounds harsh. What do you think, Jess?"  
  
Still sitting next to her on the park bench, Jess sighed and checked his watch.   
  
6:30pm.  
  
They'd been sitting there for over an hour, "Look, Rory, does it really matter?" Jess couldn't take it anymore. She was his girlfriend! Couldn't she stop thinking about that blasted Dean for once?! "I mean - he knows we're going out now, and it's not like there's anything to say. You went to his house before, and he let you run away - you're over him, he's over you, doesn't it all work out?" To Jess that sounded reasonable, but as he turned to Rory for approval he saw her eyes streaming with tears.  
  
"I," she whispered, "I can't believe you'd be so insensitive. Dean and I were a couple for a long time. I can't just end it like this. I have to at least say sorry."  
  
Jess lost his temper, "Well, you know what!? It sounds like you're not even over him yet! How can you say you love me when all you ever talk about is Dean?"  
  
Rory really started crying then, "Look! I don't know! I just want to say sorry to him! That's all! I still love you!" She reached to touch his face, but Jess turned away stubbornly. He heard the chair creak as she stood up, and then her footsteps as she ran away...  
  
"God, Jess!" he scolded himself, "You're such a loser."  
  
Then he buried his head into his hands and cried.  
  
"Well, well, well," a familiar voice, "If it isn't Miss Rory Gilmore."  
  
"Go away, Tristan," she said, looking down, for her eyes were still puffy, "Why are you here? You don't live in Stars Hollow."  
  
"Well, I heard about Dean, and I felt bad about what happened at the cafeteria the other day so I thought I'd cheer you up...," he said cheekily.  
  
"Leave me alone."  
  
Rory was sitting on her verandah steps and Tristan joined her. He sat close to her. Too close.  
  
"Look," Tristan's voice suddenly adopted an apologetic tone, free from all it's previous joking and teasing demeanour, "I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have hit on you when I knew you were hung up about Dean...I should've known and respected that. I'm sorry," he did a puppy face, "Forgive me?" he barked, "Pwetty pwease? Can we be fwends?"  
  
Rory looked at his face for two seconds before bursting out into laughter, "Yeah....sure....I forgive you....but look, it's getting pretty late, you should probably go home now."  
  
"Okay, but I can stay a few more minutes."  
  
"Rory, I'm sorry. I was being a jerk - I understand all about Dean, I shouldn't've been so rude," Jess rehearsed as he slowly walked to Rory's house. Luke would be mad that he was late back, but Rory was far more important.  
  
Wait! Who was that? There were two people sitting on Rory's verandah...one was Rory and the other was...Jess squinted. Some blonde-haired guy with a bad puppy-dog expression on his face. What was worse, Rory was laughing and smiling with him!  
  
Jess' hands balled into fists by his side as he walked steadily to Rory's house. 


	14. Secret Admirer? Don't think so!

"What are you doing here?!" Jess short of roared at Tristan.  
  
"No, Jess, wait!" Rory shouted, placing herself defiantly between the two boys. Tristan remained as relaxed as ever, a complacent I-know-I-should-be-here smile on his face, "Well, well, well," he said smugly, "If it isn't lil 'ol Jess, from lil 'ol Luke's Diner. It's a pleasure," he extended his hand and bowed mockly.  
  
Insulted, but angry as ever, Jess, controlled himself as he grinned back, dripping sarcasm, "The pleasure's all mine...and so's Rory."  
  
You could almost see the smile slide off Tristan's face. The smug smirk was immediately replaced with a scowl of displeasure, "So...you and Rory are an item then, I take it?" he cast Rory a short, almost accusatory glance.  
  
"Erm...yes, Tristan," said Rory, unsure of what to do, "We've been going out for the past week now."  
  
Despite the fact that Jess felt mad at Rory, for bouncing from him, and then to Dean, and now to this annoying Tristan guy, he could feel that sense of pride welling up inside him, "Darn right we are," he said, laying his hand conspicuously on Rory's shoulder.  
  
"Oh...I see..." the smile was back again, "Well then...I'll see you around, Rory...Jess..." he spat out Jess' name like a foul medicine. Then he laughed. A pretty loud laugh, free of self-consciousness, "I'll see you around," he repeated.  
  
"Whoa," said Rory, after he'd ran round the corner, "I know Tristan can be pretty freaky but that laugh was almost freakier than usual," she struggled with a small smile, turned to face Jess and kissed him squarely on the mouth, a nice surprise for Jess if there ever was one.  
  
"What was that for?" he asked, grinning.  
  
"Can't I kiss my own boyfriend?" she teased. And then she was serious again, "That was for being so nice to me, all through my whole Dean thing. I mean, I know it must have been really hard for you to see me so bummed over my breaking up with him, but you've been nothing but understanding this whole time...and I'm so sorry for being such a jerk." Jess stopped for a moment, took a step back, observed her face and smiled.  
  
"What?" she asked noticing, the corners of her mouth lifting.  
  
"Nothing," he laughed, sharing a secret to himself.  
  
"No! Seriously, what?! Do I have cabbage stuck in my teeth or something?" Rory ran her tongue over her teeth.  
  
"No," Jess smiled, "But I'll get it out for you anyway," and then he leant down to kiss her.  
  
"Ugh," Rory thought to herself, "whoever invented Ad. Maths?" Groaning, she shifted the heavy textbooks from her hands into her locker. She was glad that lesson was over...but wait...? What was...??  
  
"Oh...my...gosh," Rory beheld the beautiful bouquet of flowers in her locker...  
  
"What are those?!" Paris ran quickly to her, "Are those...flowers?! From a secret admirer?? Who's it from!?" Questions quickly flew from her mouth.  
  
"I-I don't know..."  
  
"Quick, check the name tag!"  
  
"Erm...okay..." Rory searched frantically for one, "there isn't one."  
  
"What!? There isn't one!!?" Paris screeched. The whole hallway turned to look at them, before shuffling off muttering about tuition classes.  
  
"Nope...there isn't one..." Rory ended resignedly..."But I have a pretty good idea who it may be," she thought silently...  
  
NOTE!!! I haven't watched GG for a LONG time! In my country, they don't show it anymore, so I'm not up-to-date, so if there are any errors feel free to tell me. And sorry that my chapters are getting shorter, more dragged-on and less updated - my studies are getting into the way of my computer time, but I will try by all means to keep this going no matter what! :D 


	15. Salty Tears

"Tristan!" Rory had to run to keep up with the tall, lanky boy.  
"Yes?" he asked, smiling smugly, swinging himself abruptly, so that Rory accidentally smacked her face into his chest.  
Rory regained her composure, "Er...well...you know what I want to talk about..." she twiddled her thumbs, "why'd you give it to me?"  
"Well..." now it was Tristan's turn to be uncomfortable, "I just thought, well," he smiled, a smile that Rory had never encountered before, and lest a smile she'd expect from Mr. Big-Shot himself. In fact, it almost looked as though he was...embarrassed? "I just thought you'd like them," he finished softly. Then he did something completely unexpected. As if the surprises that she's met with that day weren't enough already, he did an anti-Tristan move - a show of affection. And not the I-wanna-get-with-you-just-to-show-off-with-my-mates kinda affection. It was genuine....Rory felt a shiver of anticipation down to her toes as he bent down and kissed her lightly on the cheek.  
"I hope you like them," he said...and then walked off.  
  
"Mum, I'm home!" Rory trudged in through the front door, her head a muddle of thoughts, swimming around in her head, all begging for air-time. It was hard. Rory had never felt this way before. What was up with Tristan?! It was way easier to pretend she wasn't attracted to him when he was a self-absorbed, obnoxious prick, no matter how much he may look like some Grecian god....however, it was even harder to resist him when he was actually sweet for once!  
"Hi, honey, how was school?" Lorelai asked, peeking over the cover of 'Innkeeping 101.  
"It was...different," Rory said haltingly. She usually shared everything with Lorelai, but this time it just didn't seem appropriate.  
"Different? How do you mean?"  
"Oh, nothing...err...we just had less homework than usual!" she covered up, a bit over-excitedly. She ran quickly into the solace of her room. Sighing, hardly bothering to take off her backpack, she sprawled lazily over her favourite pink checkered bedcover. Grabbing the bouquet of flowers which she'd somehow managed to smuggle into her bag, she inhaled them...and then snorted as the petals went up her sensitive nose. She'd forgotten her slight allergy to flowers!  
"Darn!" she started sneezing.  
Suddenly she noticed something...imbedded inside the flowers, at the very bottom of the bouquet, she noticed something she hadn't initially...it was a...card?! What?! She thought that these flowers were from some anonymous guy..."Oh well, at least now I know it's Tristan," she sighed to herself, "Paris would've went crazy if she knew that he still had feelings for me!"  
  
"Someone I glimpsed so fleetingly,  
Could she feel the same about me?  
Someone I love so tenderly?  
Could she and I ever be?  
  
"From,  
A Secret Admirer :)"  
  
"What!" Rory distinctly felt the room reeling. If that was from a 'secret admirer' then what was it that Tristan had given her?  
  
She soon found out that night as she went through her regulation thick pile of homework. A piece of paper fluttered out of her English Literature notebook, wrapped around something. Curious, Rory unwrapped it and gasped as she took out a dainty, precious silver chain. The pendant was a beautiful filigree heart, a pattern so intricate that she had to squint to work it out properly. It was beautiful. On the same piece of paper was written, 'From Tristan'. Rory's heart beat faster than ever as, with shaking hands, she fastened the beautiful piece of jewelry onto her neck. She grabbed her hand mirror from the nearby desk and just looked at it, fingering it's design. Suddenly, and without warning, hot tears splashed down from her eyes, forming torrents of heartache on her cheek, "What's wrong with me!?" she asked herself.  
"How could I break Dean's heart, only to go out with Jess...and then find myself falling for....falling for...Tristan!! And to top it all of, I have a secret admirer!" Her heart broke a thousand times over as she critisized herself, angry as ever. She cried herself to sleep that night, muffling her tears into her pillow.  
In the morning, it was soaked with salty tears. 


	16. A Phone Call Away

"HELP!"  
  
"Ouch," on the other side of the phone line, Lane held the phone further from her ear as she gingerly rubbed it back so that she could hear again.  
  
"I'm sorry," Rory said, "It's just that...I don't know what to do!" she wailed.  
  
"Well...why don't you start from the beginning?"  
  
"Err...Dean, Tristan, Jess...mystery guy...?" Rory said, almost as confused as her best friend.  
  
"What?!"  
  
"Well....today at school, I received a bouquet of flowers and - "  
  
Rory was interrupted by a shriek of envy at the other end of the line, "What?! Flowers?! That's soooo romantic! Who! Who was it from? Tell me tell me! Spill!"  
  
"Actually...I was going to, until you interrupted me...so I guess since you're so interested in talking....I just won't say a thing," Rory risked a smile on the other line, knowing it'd show through in her voice.  
  
"Aw, come on, you can't be serious?! You know me! If I even so much as catch whiff of a secret or something...I'll have to know it before I explode!"  
  
"Alright, alright, alright," Rory relented, smiling again. She knew that a phone call to Lane would cheer her up immediately, "Well, the thing is...those flowers were from a secret admirer...."  
  
"What?!!! REALLY?!" Now it was Rory's turn to hold the receiver far away from her face, "Yes, really..."  
  
The hours gradually passed and the Gilmore household was shrouded in darkness by the time Rory gabbed every single detail of the past two weeks, and all her feelings had been analyzed therapist-style by Lane, and she put down the receiver with a contented sigh. She felt so much better now.  
  
However, that still left the question on how to deal with this new mysterious admirer, not to mention Tristan and his unexpected turn for the better - or rather, sweeter. She smiled as she remembered the kiss he gave her, and against her own will tried to imagine what it would be like to plant a kiss square on his lips.  
  
She rapidly blinked her eyes, "No! No! Think unsexy thoughts! Think unsexy thoughts!" But the image of Tristan smiling at her was too much to bear, "Fine!" she screeched, annoyed at herself, tugging at her hair as she lay on the bed, "At LEAST think about your BOYFRIEND!"  
  
So she did. She thought of Jess. Of how beneath his bad-boy attitude, he had such charming qualities. Like the fact he could be a total gentleman, and how he was just so darn nice and caring...she sighed. She really didn't deserve Jess. Or Dean for that matter. Not even Tristan or Mystery Boy would rank on her list of 'Who-I-Deserve'. How could she?! She'd broken up with Dean because she'd two-timed with Jess, only to two-time Jess in turn with Tristan.  
  
Okay, so maybe she wasn't actually two-timing him. But she had a feeling that the sentence should be rephrased to she wasn't two-timing Jess YET. If there was anything she'd learnt in the past two weeks it was that she definitely was a fickle person, and couldn't choose from one person to the other. What she didn't realise though was that Rory herself took things too seriously...and so she cried herself to sleep, beating herself up inside, wondering if it was right to break up with Jess after they'd only been together for a few days.... 


	17. Sick and Sorry

"Hello?" Rory jolted back to reality as she picked up the phone. After a whole weekend daydreaming about what it would be like to kiss Tristan, in many different situations (she was surprised at her own imagination, which as it turned out, was way more creative than she ever thought before)...all of them so unlikely to happen...but still...a girl could dream, couldn't she?  
  
"What...!" she screeched to herself - she was actually thinking of going out with Tristan, no less kissing him! What would Jess say!!! Speaking of Jess...  
  
"'What...!' what?" Jess asked, puzzled, on the other line.  
  
"Oh, er...oh no, nothing," Rory regained her composure, her heart beating a mile a minute, "H-how are you, Jess?"  
  
Rory could almost HEAR his eyebrows narrowing as he asked suspiciously, "Are you alright?"  
  
"Alright?!" Rory said breathlessly, "Why wouldn't I be alright?! I mean, I'm here aren't I? At home? In one piece? Alright? Of course I'm alright! Bah! What a weird thing to say...!"  
  
"...I'm coming over. You sound like you might be coming down with something..."  
  
"Err...no, it's alright - there's nothing wrong with me...I've just...too much homework or something," Rory clumsily excused, tripping over her own words. First she'd been fantasizing about a different guy while she had a boyfriend that loved her, and second she was LYING to the afforementioned boyfriend! She grunted and hit her head on the wall next to her...  
  
"What's that sound?" Jess asked, more suspicious than ever, "Are you alright? Really? What if you come down with something? That would be horrible...I'm on my way now."  
  
"Wait - no - " Click. Jess hung up.  
  
Rory sighed. She couldn't believe that she'd actually more or less rejected the opportunity for her boyfriend to come over. Come on, he really liked her and there she was, making excuses for him to avoid her instead. Minutes later, a sharp rap sounded on her front door. She sighed once more as she got off her chair and went to answer the phone.  
  
"Look, Jess, I'm sorry for making you come over here...I mean you didn't have to, I'm not sick, really!" she said, looking down at her shoes, so embarrassed, and angry at herself. She looked up, expecting to see Jess' piercing gaze, but instead there was...nothing?!  
  
"What?" she said to herself, looking left and right, "Don't tell me it's a knock-and-run?" She doubted it.  
  
That's when it caught her eye. Placed on the steps outside her house was a package wrapped in beautiful paper, calligraphied with the words, 'Rory Gilmore'. She indulged herself with a smile, although she felt guilty taking up the fragile package and, looking left and right to make sure Jess wasn't on his way, she quickly smuggled it into one of the kitchen cupboards, which was just as well because....'Knock knock!'  
  
She flung open the front door, red-faced with guilt, and yet secretly delighted at receiving such a special present.  
  
"Hi Jess!" she said, a little too excitedly.  
  
"Hey, Ror..." Jess bent down and kissed her on the lips, soft and gently, but the meaning was still there. Rory's face flushed a deep scarlet, thinking of the fantasies she'd had about Tristan, when all the time Jess was always there for her...and just loved her so much...and he had no idea at all...she wasn't aware as the tears, big and fat, started rolling down her face until Jess asked her why she was crying.  
  
"What's wrong...?" he asked, his face puzzled and oh-so-caring, a myriad of emotions reflected on his face all at once.  
  
"Nothing, it's nothing," she said softly, wiping the tears away. She hugged him suddenly, kissing him over and over again..."I love you, Jess..." 


	18. Rory plus Donut equals Fat?

Rory sighed. She was content now. I mean, she had to be, right? Come on, Jess had just spent three hours with her, doing nothing but sitting on the old couch stroking her hair with his fingers, all the while saying, "Are you sure you're alright?"

He'd left because Luke had wanted him back by nightfall, but not before saying repeatedly how much he loved her. What did she do to turn his eyes her way? She'd never been particularly flirty around Jess, nor particularly nice - in fact, far from that, and yet he'd still been attracted to her, still loved her, still would spend three hours aimlessly accepting the occupation of a couch potato.

Rory beamed to herself. Jess was way too nice - beneath the bad-boy demeanour, ruffled hair, self-confident smirk, he was just an old softie at heart...and that was just the way she liked it. She smiled a little ruefully, letting her finger linger on her lips where he'd kissed her good-bye.

Sighing a little, she suddenly remembered the mysterious present from her secret admirer. She'd been so caught up in just basking in Jess' presence that she'd forgotten all about it...hastily she retrieved it from the kitchen cabinet.

She observed the little package curiously, fingering her name, calligraphied so finely on the exquisite gold-coloured paper. She almost didn't want to open it - it was such a pretty present - but curiousity got the better of her and she deftly opened it...she had just about taken out a plain brown box from the packaging when she heard Lorelai's voice pierce the quiet atmosphere as she gaily cried out, "Hi Rory! Guess what? I stopped by Luke's today and got some donuts for dinner! I mean, I know they're not healthy and all, but, what the hey, it's only once in a while, right?"

Rory rolled her eyes, and gave her mum an indulgent smile, quickly smuggling the package (just barely!) under the coffee table, wondering if it gave the present proper coverage.

"Mum! We've eaten nothing but donuts for dinner the whole week!" she stood up and put her hands on her shoulders, pretending to be exasperated, "What will I tell the people at Harvard when the weight I gave them on the application form doesn't match the weight I will be when I begin classes!?"

"Oh well," sighed Lorelai, wiping a mock tear from her I, "You can always tell them that you _tried_ to eat healthy food, but in vain. In the supermarket, you'd be gasping for the fresh healthy apples, while I wickedly slapped your hand away and headed straight for the junk food aisle. And then you'd say to your lecturers, 'Ah! There was once a day when I could wear jeans that were actually sized. But now, alas! - all my clothes are tailor-made due to the fact that I'm too fat! Twas my mother! My mother I tell you! The wicked Mrs. Lorelai Gilmore! Why, she deserves to be put in a cellar with only healthy food for at _least_ a week!'"

Lorelai put her hand to her head, feigning a fainting spell, "Healthy food?! What is that? There's no such thing as healthy food in the Gilmore household! Oh!" Lorelai narrowed her eyes, "You must be talking about my health freak of a daughter..." lowering her voice to a whisper, "We don't call her...Rory anymore...in fact, she is now referred to as...as....the Health Junkie! Yes, yes, it was hard to lose a daughter to another one of the marketing scams, saying that healthy food _is_ healthy and all, but alas, that's the price you pay to eat the food you love...namely...donuts!" As she said that Lorelai viciously bit at a cinnamon donut.

By that time, Rory was doubled over in laughter, her concern about the contents of the package long gone, as she lunged for a donut from the box Lorelai was holding in her hand, "Gimme gimme!" she screeched, as she tickled Lorealai's stomach till she finally let go.

They both ended up exhausted on the couch, back-to-back, heaving and sighing, from indigestion, most likely.

"Mum?" Rory turned to face Lorelai, all of a sudden serious.

"Yes, honey?" Lorelai's face was frozen into a smile, still thinking about their odd donut debate.

"Thanks for buying donuts everyday for dinner. Thanks for always being there to talk to...thanks for being the greatest mum in the world...thanks for being...you," Rory whispered the last word as she hugged Lorelai, "You're the best friend in the world!"

"Aaw, honey, don't do this to me! My all-new mascara's smudging onto your shirt!"

They broke apart abruptly, erupting into laughter again as Lorelai shoved a whole donut into her mouth.

That night, as Rory packed her bag for school the next day, she thought back on the day's events. It was way past midnight already, she'd been up studying, but Lorelai was probably asleep. It was definitely save to retrieve her precious package from under the table, but before she did, Rory had a disturbing thought. If Lorelai _was_ Rory's best friend, how come Rory just couldn't find it in herself to tell Lorelai about all the things that'd been happening lately? About Jess' sweet devotion to her? About the bitterness she felt whenever she thought of Dean? About Tristan's sudden change in character? And about this new mystery admirer?

She didn't know. It was a mystery to her herself.

She sighed and trudged out the bedroom door to retrieve the package.


	19. Musical Box

She lifted up the cover of the box carefully. Against her own better judgement, she found herself holding her breath, like a little girl opening a birthday present. She couldn't deny it, she was curious as to what the box might hold, even secretly pleased that someone was paying attention to her, spoiling her with precious little gifts.

...A jewelry box? Her breath caught as she fingered the ornate carvings on it. Faeries lept in the air, mysterious pan-boys blowing on their pipes, playing a tune she could almost hear, beautiful robins gaily flying in the midsummer scene...she gently opened it, the gold fastener that went round the whole rim, to reveal...she laughed.

She remembered the cheap music boxes she'd always admired from afar, something Lorelai had always said was 'uneccessary' and therefore barred from purchasing. That wasn't it though, Rory had always been attracted to those pink plastic ballerinas that skated the surface whenever you opened the giant-sized novelty box. They danced to their own tune, completely ignoring the gentle tinkling melody of Fur Elise or Love Story in the background, going round and round in dizzying circles. Rory used to stay in gift stores for ages, watching the ballerina skate around the surface of the mirror, exhausting the batteries of the music box, only stopping when Lorelai forced her to leave, or worse, when the shopkeeper gently guided her away from the store.

And so she realised that the jewelry box wasn't really a jewelry box, but instead a musical box. She heard an unidentifiable tune in the background, but what excited her most was the beautiful, ethereal faerie gliding over the surface of a mirror, painted to show a country scene, and a ring of mushrooms encompassing the dancing figure.

It was so beautiful, so delicate, Rory was afraid to put down the box for fear of cracking it. Proudly, she brought it back to her room and layed it on her bed, her eyes never leaving the faerie as she danced to the beautiful tune in the background. It was like a spell, cast on her, and she just relented...and then something caught her eye.

A red piece of paper, lying in the storage section of the box. It lay there innocently, and Rory felt like just leaving it there - she didn't want to wreck the present by worrying about it's giver, she just wanted to enjoy the music...but no, it was almost daring her to open it.

Sighing, she grabbed and unfolded the piece of paper.

"I love you.

Dean."


	20. A Helpful Call

Rory gasped, almost backing away from the present herself. She squinted, thinking back to the last time she'd seen Dean. She'd been at his doorway, avoiding his eyes as she stared at her shoelaces, nervously twitching her body...and then she'd ran away like there was no tomorrow. At the time, she'd been so affected, crying for the whole night...but now, her feelings for Dean had gone to zilch.

She narrowed her eyes. Why didn't she see it before? _Of course_ it was Dean! It could be no-one else! He knew her fetish for music-boxes, how much she loved flowers (he'd once given them to her a week straight during one of their many anniversaries) ... he knew her locker at Chilton...wait a minute. No he didn't! Her eyes narrowed even more, until they were slits...that meant that...Dean had given her this separate present, but the flowers were from her mystery admirer? Or...her mystery admirer was pretending to be Dean...What?! Rory shook her head. That didn't make sense. Why would anyone do that?

Unless...he didn't want her to know who he was? But wasn't that misleading? It was kinda rude, too. Unconsciously, Rory put her hands on her hips in indignation. The nerve of that guy...of course, Lorelai had always taught her never to jump to conclusions. Oh wait, no - that was Emily - but the principle still stood - never pretend to be your infatuation's ex-boyfriend. Rory shook her head again. Boys these days.

She was having a good laugh at her silly behaviour when the telephone rang, "Gilmore residence. Rory speaking."

"Rory!" Rory smiled - she recognised the voice immediately.

"Hi, Lane, what's up?"

"You'll never guess what happened?!"

Rory rolled her eyes - Lane was always one for melodrama, "What..." Frankly, Rory was tired and sleepy. All this second-guessing about her secret admirer's moves was making her exhausted. She just wanted to know...she considered telling Lane about today's mystery present. But she was too tired, and it was way too confusing to explain her thoughts coherently.

"Well...my Mum was packing up at the store last week, and then this guy came in and he really really wanted to buy this one antique, but my Mum got all mad, saying the price he was asking for was way too low!"

Rory smiled, nodding along. Lane usually got sidetracked in their conversations, taking up to an hour to get to her main point, and sometimes she even forgot the reason she called. Lane continued.

"So, this guy leaves, right? And my Mum goes, 'Finally!' throws her hands up in the air, locks the door, and gets all huffy because she couldn't close a sale, and also because the boy was 'way too young' and kept saying he needed it cheaper so he could buy it for his 'special girlfriend'. Well, the next night, the music box was gone, and in place, the exact amount of money my Mum asked for! Isn't that nice! He must've worked really hard, or gotten a loan from one of his friends or something, all for his special girlfriend!"

Rory could visualise Lane hugging herself, wishing for a special someone to display such a romantic gesture for her. Then she felt her blood run cold, "Wait, did you say music box?"

"Yeah, it was a really nice one too. Had faeries on it and stuff...and I loved the melody...it was so beautiful! Really, I'm kinda sad it's gone...hehe..." Lane laughed at herself.

"Quick, what was that guy's name?"

"Huh, which guy?"

"The one that bought the music box!"

"Oh, er...sorry, I don't remember. I wasn't even there...my Mum just told me about it when she got the money. And _she_ doesn't have his name either, because he didn't pay for it - not the usual way, at least...anyway, what was I calling about?"

Rory laughed at her friend's silliness. She wanted to go back to a time when she wasn't plagued with weird stalker mystery admirers, and the thought of her current boyfriend and ex-boyfriend wandering through her head - not to mention Tristan's unusual show of affection (unusual for him, that was)...she smiled as Lane went through her 'I'll-call-you-back-when-I-remember' routines and then hung up.

So...she had an appointment with Lane's mum that weekend...she smiled wryly - she was one step closer to finding this mystery guy.


	21. The Plot Thickens

"Hi, Lane!" Rory smiled at her, trying to hide the queasy feeling in her stomach. She so desperately wanted to know who that person was. Was it Dean? There was a sneaky suspicion in her that it might not be, but then again, who was she to say? She thought of Tristan...and then Jess...she sighed.

But if it indeed was some mystery admirer, someone she'd never acknowledged before...Rory racked her brain, thinking back to all the boys she'd ever said hi to that year. The answer? Zilch. The boys in her life revolved around Jess, Dean, Tristan and...Luke? Did Luke even count? She doubted it. She shook her head ruefully. She needed to get out more.

Lane waved back at Rory. It had been some time since they'd last gotten together, the day stretching ahead of them.

"Erm, Lane, if you don't mind, can I talk to your Mum?"

Lane narrowed her eyes, "Wait a minute, you're not gonna tell Mum about the time I dyed my hair purple, are you?" It was common knowledge that Lane's mum was the strictest around.

Rory suppressed a laugh, "Of course not! That photo is still with my Mum!"

"Oh okay then, sure - she's in the storeroom," Lane waved her hand nonchalantly in that direction, and Rory complied, her heart thudding - would she finally find out who this mystery guy was?

"Hello, Rory," Lane's mum greeted her in her rigid accent, and then frowned, "This Lane, she too much freedom. Every day ask me to bring her to mall! The mall!" she gesticulated with her hands angrily, wringing them, "I manage shop on own, and this Lane, she want me to bring her to the _mall_!!! Kids these days!" She snorted, "Way too much freedom!"

She glanced at Rory, who was trying once again to suppress a laugh, "Not you, of course," Lane's mum added hastily, "You no too much freedom. You good girl. Not like Laney." She frowned in the distance, and then turned back to her work at hand - a peeled and faded chest of drawers, and then, tongue sticking out, she added a price tag onto it deftly - $200, "You know," she confided in Rory, "People these days, they think money grows on trees. You got to charge right price. Or else people, they...how you say...take advantage on you!"

"Actually," Rory interceded, "That's kinda why I was here to talk to you today. Lane told me that there was...well, a boy that came round here the other day, and he bought a music box from you..."

Lane's mum looked up sharply. Any mention of the opposite sex set her Lane's-protection alert on overdrive, "Why you want to know?"

"Well...Lane described the music box, and it sounded nice, I was just wondering if I could get one for myself..?"

"That not likely," Lane's mum concluded, "That music box one-of-a-kind. That why is $70. The boy, he wanted it for $50! But next day, I come to store, music box gone, $80 here! Note say $10 for the glass he broke to get into store."

"Erm, how did this boy look like, if I may ask?"

Lane's mum squinted her eyes, as though that would make the boy materialize in thin air. And then she shook her head, "I no can say. He wear...whatchamajiggy? Hoo...die. So I no see his face."

"Oh..."

"But," her face brightened, "I can show you the note. Nice boy actually. Glass only cost $5 to fix. See, I can bargain pretty well!"

"Sure, I'd love to see it!" Rory said, a bit eagerly.

Lane's mum retrieved a note from a cabinet in the corner. Rory short of snatched it, quickly reading the words.

'_Sorry. Here is the $70 you asked for, not $50. I also added $10 for the glass breakage._'

Her heart stopped. It was the same handwriting as the one on the bouquet of flowers...this was getting more complicated as she went on..


	22. A Donut goes Cold

"Why, hello, stranger!" Lorelai greeted cheerily, as Rory, just as glumly walked through the door, "I was thinking we could head down to Luke's for dinner, since you're getting tired of my donut binges."

Rory smiled. It was nice to know that although she herself was changing, going through some weird indecisive stage, Lorelai would always stay the same. She quickly ran to her mum and hugged her, "Of course! That would be great! I think I'll have a...erm...donut there...?!" she commented mischieviously.

Lorelai laughed, headlocking Rory's head in her eyes and rubbing her hair viciously, "What happened to the health freak inside? I know she's here somewhere! Or did she wash off with your organic, non-animal tested shampoo?"

"Mum!" Rory groaned, "It'll take me ages to untangle these knots in my hair!" She reached out from an awkward angle and started messing Lorelai's curly hair.

"Hey, no fair!" she complained, "It took me an hour to do those this morning!"

"Well, that's too bad!" Taking advantage of Lorelai's distress, Rory shrugged out of the headlock and quickly ran to her room to brush her hair.

As the pair headed down to Luke's, the cold wind beating against their snug little jackets, Rory leant closer into Lorelai's arms, "Mum, did we have to come out when it was so cold!" she complained.

"What!" Lorelai said in mock horror, "Of course we must! It's either those unhealthy donuts again, or we might _die_ of a healthy-food overdose! You've made me buy all those horrid horrid fat-free margarine and," Lorelai wrinkled her nose in distaste, "_broccoli_."

By that time, they'd reached Luke's, and Rory, glad to get out of the cold air short of ran into the comforting interior of the diner. Relaxing onto a chair she greeted Luke.

"Nice to see my two favourite girls!" he said, grinning.

"We're holding up your business," Rory teased, commenting on the lack of customers.

Luke pulled a face, "Yeah, it's this darn freak weather...oh well...so, what'll it be?"

Lorelai answered as she got through the door, her curls askew and her nose red from the cold, "Two of your warmest, sugariest, fat-loaded donuts, please!"

"You got it," he winked.

At that moment, a very disoriented-looking Jess appeared walking down the stairs. He was rubbing his head, making the hair already standing on end even worse. There was sleep in his eyes and his yawn filled up the whole diner.

"Hi, Luke...Lorelai," he nodded as he acknowledged them, lazily lingering on their names, "Rory..." he said, noticably softer, smiling at her just a hint.

Luke and Lorelai exchanged suspicious looks.

"Jess," Luke began, just as Lorelai started, "Rory...?"

"Are you and Jess going out?"

"Are you and Rory together?!"

The donuts got cold that night.


	23. Fight or Make up?

"I cannot believe it!" Lorelai stormed, "How could you and Jess...?" she let the sentence linger.

"But Mum!" Rory interrupted, "You started it!!"

Lorelai stopped, stunned, "I did?"

"Yes! Don't you remember?! Two weeks ago, when Dean asked me out to the Promenade! You invited Jess over!! He _spent the night_!" Rory screeched back, suddenly finding herself fighting back tears as well as her mother.

Lorelai suddenly looked embarrassed, "But when he came over...I never...I thought you guys were just pulling my leg," another flicker of doubt, "But, you and Dean? I mean, I know you're not together anymore...but...you and Jess?!" Her eyes widened as the implications set in.

"How long have you been together?" she asked quietly.

"Two weeks," Rory replied.

Lorelai stared at her, "I can't believe you kept that from me!" she exclaimed, "What happened to us," she looked woeful, "I thought we were so close...you could have told me at first...I would've tried to understand."

"I know you would," Rory said, looking down at her shoes. She realised that it was something she did quite often, "But sometimes...look, I don't know, Mum, it just didn't seem...like the best thing to do at the time."

"Not the best thing?! I'm your mother! Don't you think I have a right to know!" Lorelai demanded. And then her face crumpled, and she looked crestfallen. Stepping back dejectedly, she said, "I always promised myself I'd never be like those evil stepmothers on those sitcoms, but now I sound just like one, don't I. Sorry, kiddo, I shouldn't be trying to run your life," she looked up bravely, "You don't have to tell me everything...or anything for that matter."

"Oh, Mum!" Rory sighed, "You don't have to be like that!" By now the tears were falling freely. Odd. She was crying a lot more lately, too.

"I'm sorry!" she continued earnestly, "I wanted to tell you, so many times - but I just couldn't find the words to...it's just that you always seemed so...so _opposed_ to Jess - I didn't want to....let you down or anything. You hated him so much, especially after that car accident...but I think I've loved him ever since," she admitted morosely to herself.

Something clicked in her mind. Some sort of deja vu. She'd been through this sequence of thoughts before. But she shrugged them off.

"Aaw, honey, I'm sorry too," Lorelai enveloped Rory in a hug, "I never meant to be so over-protective, it's just that when you grew up, and we were so close, I was delighted that we could be best buds...but maybe I'm getting too old for ya!" Lorelai winked.

Over at Luke's diner, things weren't going as well. The strawberry-filled donuts sat alone and neglected on their pretty little doily while Luke screamed at Jess. Outside, the 'Closed' sign hung, a companion to the donuts on the cold day.

"You and her are what!?"

"For the thousandth time," Jess said, bored, "Rory and I are together. You know, boyfriend a girlfriend. A _couple_?"

"But what happened to you and Shane!? I thought you were...? And Rory was...? And you guys have...?" Luke sputtered, "I can't have you going out with her?!"  
  
"What!" Jess' face took on a look of annoyance, "Why not?! It's my life. And it's her life. We can do what we like."

"Yes, I know!" Luke conceded, exasperated, "I _know_ you can do what you like!" He shook his head disgustedly. It was like talking to a 5-year old, "But not Rory! Come on - she's too innocent for you!"

"What?!" Jess repeated again, "I'll have you know, she _accepted_ when I asked her to be my girlfriend - she loves me too!"

"Why not Shane? Why not anyone _but_ Rory?" Luke begged, "You'll probably end up breaking her heart!" Luke tried to get his message across.

Jess' face soured unattractively, "Just because you've got the hots for her mother doesn't mean you have to protect her."

"What!" it was Luke's turn now. Thunder rolled across his head, "You're grounded!"

"So what?! I don't care! And stop acting like you're in charge of me! Or Rory for that matter! We're together and that's that!" he shouted as he ran out of the dinner and slammed the door noisily.

His anger reaching his peak and in a rash moment, Luke shouted out the door, "You don't deserve her!"


	24. Good old Days

Out of the corner of his eyes, Jess saw Luke. He sighed, and folded his arms. He knew that his 'uncle' would come after him - Luke always did have a bad time controlling his anger, but he was such a softie at heart. But that didn't mean Jess was ready to forgive him.

He could forgive him for many things (of course, usually because Luke was entitled to the things he was saying, like, "Have these dirty socks been here since Monday?" and, "Those donuts were for the customers!") but not saying that he didn't deserve Rory.

How dare he? Rory was like the one shining thing in his life - God knows he regretted so many other things. He rubbed his head thoughtfully. Although the rumours were always fabricated into something way more exciting.

At any rate, Jess was not in the mood for any more arguments, and so when Luke walked up to him, he vacantly observed the puff of warm air emitting from Luke's mouth, like a burst of fire through the icy night, "Look, Jess," Luke said gruffly, "I'm sorry. I know - I know I over-reacted."

Jess almost retorted, "Damn right you did!" but then he caught himself. Rory certainly wouldn't approve. He smiled inwardly - he loved how Rory could be so goody-two-shoes, yet underneath it all she was a rebel like any other kid. (Little did he know about her torn thoughts of the quartet of boys ruling her life)

Instead Jess turned and faced Luke. With all the self-control he could muster, he murmered almost imperceptively, "That's alright. I'm going to bed now," and then he pushed past Luke and walked back to the diner, rubbing his shoulders.

"Boy, it's cold."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Mu-um!" Rory bounded down the stairs excitedly.

"Ready?" Lorelai looked over her shoulders, bag slung over the 'new' jacket that was 'to-die-for' at the vintage store in Stars Hollow.

"Sure am!" Rory said. It had been a long time since they'd spent the day together. And now they were looking forward for a stroll to the mall, something they'd rarely done since the beginning of the year. Lorelai was always busy with the inn, and Rory...well...Rory had schoolwork...and...things to worry about. She blushed as she the thought crossed her mind that she'd been spending the past 2 weeks dwelling on boys rather than her oh-so-important studies.

As they entered the car, Lorelai started chatting amiably, yesterday and their sour encounter about Jess all forgotten.

"So I was saying to Sookie, we don't need fancy imported icing sugar - but she insists on it! The silly thing! Oh well, as long as her cookies taste the way they do, I'd order icing-sugar from Timbuktu! Hey, that rhymed! Rory, pass me that box of Sookie's cookies in the back-seat...thanks honey..."

She grabbed a cookie from the makeshift box.

"Mmm..." Lorelai's expression changed into one of pure indulgence, "Strawberry and pineapple tarts...oh, excuse the drooling!" She laughed as she drived on and eventually parked outside the mall.

Rory and Lorelai emerged from the car, cookie crumbs littering their shirts and around their mouth. They laughed as they hooked arms. Rory had never felt so close to Lorelai in such a long time. She realised how much she'd missed the good old simple days.

They arrived home that night tired, Lorelai's wallet almost empty, "But we still have enough for a quick coffee at Luke's!" she winked.

Rory rolled her eyes, laughing - Lorelai _always_ had time for Luke's coffee, it was an integrated part of her. The word 'Lorelai' was synonymous with 'Luke's coffee'.

"Just a minute, Mum, let me go keep these first." As she packed all the clothes they'd bought that day, Rory's eyes fell on the music box stashed under the bed. She'd had no idea what to do with it, and so it would have to stay there until she could have the house to herself and listen to it again. She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, wondering who the mystery boy was.

And then she hoisted her self up resignedly, "Let's go, Mum!" Putting on a cheerful face, she bounded down the verandah, Lorelai in tow, looking forward to a frothy cappuccino.


	25. So it's a date?

"Load it up, Luke!" Lorelai teased from her seat in the diner overlooking the street. There was no one out that night due to the late hour...Luke was just about to close shop when she and Rory had come bounding in.

Across the table, Rory heaved a sigh of relief when she saw that Jess was no where to be found - usually he helped Luke close up the diner. As Luke placed her frothy cappuccino down in front of her, she greedily buried her head into the bubbles. Boy, it tasted good - she loooked up, to see Lorelai laughing at her, wiping her foamy nose with her finger, and transferring it to her own nose.

From his vantage point clearing the counter of crumbs, Luke looked up and smiled at the mother-daughter duo. He'd never really thought what it would be like to have a son. And to take care of him, watch out for him, _be_ there for him...no - in his whole life, Luke had only ever thought as far as marriage, and most certainly never about children...

But now...

He let his mind linger. Then, thinking in a dreamlike state to himself, "Scott is a nice name...I could definitely have a Scott in the family - and how about Jake? Matt?" Then, he shook himself out of his trance. What was he thinking! "..._have a Soctt in the family..._" - was he insane? He wasn't even married, or with a _girlfriend_ for crying out loud!

Come on...his inner voice slowly cajoled him back into the afforementioned trance...it's not a _crime_ to think about children - teenagers barely 16 years old were already _having_ children! And so Luke kept on thinking...he wondered if he would ever get married...and to who? Would his wife be a loving mother? A dominating evil stepmum? A loyal puppy-dog type? Time would tell, he supposed.

His eyes darted from here to there in the diner, and then finally rested comfortably on Lorelai's smiling face, complete with a frothy nose. Oh yes...time would tell...

- - - - - - - - -

"Rory?"

"Speaking," Rory felt shivers up her spine. Tristan's voice sounded so damn good on the phone!

"Tristan here..." she could almost _hear_ the smug on his face. Trying to act cool, she replied nonchalantly, "So, what's up?"

"I was thinking...if you're not busy...would you like to go out this weekend? You know, for lunch or something? I know this fantastic Asian restaurant near Chilton."

Rory felt her heartbeat quicken as she thought carefully about the consequences of eating out with Tristan DuGrey the, so-called 'man-on-campus'. The repercussions would be bad, but amazingly enough, ever since Tristan had come back to Chilton, she's found herself starting to actually genuinely enjoy his company.

"Well...Tristan, that would be...great," she said, and the smile on her face was unerasable.

"Great, I'll make reservations - talk to you in school?" Click.

"Sure thing," she whispered to the monotone beep.

She wondered if she should tell Jess about her and Tristan's lunch date. But then she frowned - she'd just make Jess unnecessarily jealous and hot-headed, for no reason at all. This was an innocent meeting, after all - between two platonic friends.

True, her platonic friend had given her a beautiful necklace..."But that was for being...friends," she reminded herself, ignoring the bald-faced lie that was growing. And it wasn't like she had a crush on him, was it?

No, of course not...


	26. So it's a date? Part 2

Lorelai sighed as she pushed through the glass door to the diner. Lunch break was usually a welcome haven for her, and today doubly so - sure, she loved her inn to bits, it was her baby (besides Lorelai, of course) and she'd invested all her time and energy into it. But sometimes moody tenants and electrical shortages got to her head.

"Excuse me if I scream," she said to Luke.

"Bad day?" he asked, already preparing her coffee.

"You can say that again," rolling her eyes, Lorelai slumped on her bar stool, burying her face in her hands. Minutes later, as the caffeine entered her system, she was chirpy again.

"Well," she began, "I talked to Rory about Jess. I think it's...okay - if they're together and all, I mean. I was kinda freaked out at first, but, hey! I'm the mum, after all," she winked.

"...I had a talk to Jess too," Luke replied, picking his words carefully, "I think it's great that he's with Rory. She could be a good influence on him...but..." he looked into Lorelai's eyes, troubled, "They're just kids! Rory especially so. I don't want Jess to - to...I don't know, make a bad impression on her."

Lorelai looked up, startled. The idea of serious, studious, smart and _mature_ Rory being influenced by Jess the wrong way was hilarious. She grabbed her stomach as she started guffawing mercilessly. Customers in the diner looked up, shocked and appalled. A few left. Luke buried his head in his hands. If he was lucky, he only made Lorelai laugh and snort this derisively once a week. If not, well...let's just say the tips jar was getting emptier by the day.

Wiping tears from her eyes, Lorelai said, "I never knew you had such a low opinion of Rory!"

Luke grimaced. He disliked it when Lorelai teased him like that, "Well, glad to see she's safe from the 'terrible clutches' of Jess."

"Don't worry, Luke. She is. In fact, I'm glad that she's finally over Dean. And I _think_ I'd rather it be Jess than any other guy. I mean, at least I know who Rory's future uncle-in-law might be!"

Luke eyed Lorelai warily, "If that wasn't one of the worst jokes I've ever heard..." he began.

- - - - - - - - -

"Hey!" Rory heard a low, husky voice at the same time strong tan hands covered her eyes, "Guess who?" His breath was a tickle in her ear.

"Hi Tristan..." she said, sounding more excited than she intended.

He didn't remove his hands, "Well, I made the reservations. Friday, seven thirty at 'Choo's' right around the corner. I'll pick you up from your house if you like."

"That...that would be nice, Tristan."

He removed his hands, and by the time she opened her eyes, he was gone.

- - - - - - - - -

"Rory!"

Rory looked up, surprised. Lorelai had just brought her home from school, and now she was in her room, studying (she had a lot to catch up on - her concentration wasn't exactly 100 in class) Through the lacy curtain and her window she could vaguely make out the figure of Jess, waving, a big grin plastered to his face. Laughing inwardly, she thought, "This is unusual."

She walked out to the front door, "Hi Jess," she said, smiling already. It had been two days since the awkward meeting at Luke's diner, but it was all water under the bridge now.

"You'll never guess what happened!" he said, still grinning.

"What?" she asked, playing along.

"Well, seeing how we've never actually been formally out or anything..." Rory thought about it. It was true. She and Jess had not actually been on a real date.

"I got us reservations to eat dinner!"

"Really?!" Rory asked, surprised, "Where is it?"

"It's a surprise, but it's a really fancy and _good_ restaurant," he smiled, obviously happy.

"Jess - that's so sweet of you! But how...how did you get the money to pay...?"

"Don't you worry bout that, missy," he grinned cheekily.

"When are we going?"

"Two days...I already asked your Mum and she agreed to drive us there..."

"That will be great Jess! I'd love to go," Rory couldn't stop smiling, even after Jess left, until she caught a look at her homework diary and realised that it was Wednesday that day.


	27. Science Lab

It was Thursday morning and Rory couldn't concentrate. Using her pen, she scratched viciously into her paper:

**FRIDAY...**

Rory looked down at what she'd been penning down in Science lab the whole day. The word 'Friday' encompassed three pages of lined paper, taunting her. Big Friday's, small Friday's, loopy Friday's, fancy Friday's, angry Friday's, they were all written down in her handwriting.

Sitting next to her, Paris leaned over not-so-discreetly, "What's happening on Friday?"

She startled Rory, who was already on the verge of starting a giant 'Friday' for the back cover of her notebook. She sat up a little and closed the notebook, "Oh, nothing."

"I know what it is," Paris said excitedly.

"You do?"

"Yeah! Everyone knows about it!"

"About what?! And could you please lower your voice?" Rory asked, eyeing her Science teacher nervously.

"Big man-on-campus. You know. The....date..." Paris winked. The fact that Paris hardly ever winked only heightened Rory's alarm.

"Date? What date?!" she asked, as nonchalantly as possible, trying desperately to mask her fear. But then again, why should she be afraid? This was an innocent dinner after all. Yeah, right. How many times had she told that lie to herself. She buried her head in her hands.

"How do you know?" Rory asked warily.

"Tristan just about told everyone on campus!" Paris trilled, "Of course, you should be concentrating on your studies..." she frowned disapprovingly, "But it's alright...I forgive you."

Rory and Paris were lab partners, and they had just been assigned another project together. Rory could at least smile at the fact that Paris was really excited for her. It was nice to have a friend. It was hard when Lane and herself hardly ever saw each other. She definitely needed to bond with Paris more. And then a thought struck her.

"So Paris," she asked casually, "You free this Friday?"

Paris squinted into some imaginary corner of her mind, where all her dates and figures were kept, "Actually, I have an English project due next week...but I should be able to finish it by today. Why?"

A smile crept up Rory's face, "You wanna come along with Tristan and I?" Inside her head, she reasoned. Tristan has no reason to be mad. After all, this is just a dinner 'for fun'. He can always adjust the reservations, I'm sure. And then I can go to Jess' dinner after Tristan's....it was perfect, fool-proof...Rory congratulated herself.

"Sure, that sounds like fun!" Paris said, a little too eagerly. Rory frowned. There was honestly something iffy going on with Paris. But she decided not to dwell on it too much.

At the end of Science, as they were walking out, Paris thanked her once again for inviting her.

"No problem!" Rory smiled, but inside she could feel her heart sinking. If only Jess hadn't invited her to go for dinner on the same day...she'd wanted desperately to be alone with Tristan.


	28. Take it Back

Friday afternoon, just as classes let out, Rory ran across the school garden to meet Paris, "Erm...you know what...Paris? I just wanted to say...well...I don't think it would be suitable if you came after all with Tristan and I...I mean, he didn't invite you and...well, yeah." she rubbed her neck awkwardly. Inside she was thinking, 'I can't give up this chance to get to know Tristan better.'

"How could you take it back! I bought a dress just for the occasion!" Paris screeched.

As Rory whirled around in disbelief, saying, "You bout a _dress_ yesterday afternoon? But, you hate dresses! Besides...it's just a casual dinner!" the cogs and gears started to whir in her head, and a green-eyed monster took charge.

Paris looked down at her feet, embarrassed, "Well - it's about time I bought some dresses," she reasoned.

Rory looked at her with an anger she was unaccustomed too, "You like Tristan, don't you?"

Paris' face whipped up, and she stared defiantly at Rory, "So what if I do? Don't you have Jess as your boyfriend?" Her defences were fully up now, and Rory could tell that she suspected Rory's 'infidelity' towards Jess.

Inside her head, Rory argued that she was just mildly attracted to Tristan...nothing more than that - girls were allowed to think other guys were hot, right? There was no law against that...true...but she _had_ invited Paris to sit in on her and Tristan's date, but then suddenly retracted the offer when she realised she'd wanted to spend the time alone with him.

Rory groaned. What had gotten her into this mess in the first place? Paris was still looking at her disgustedly, "At least if I _do_ like Tristan," she began hotly, "I don't have a _boyfriend_. It would be okay for me to pursue him! Not like you - you - you...backstabber!"

Then Paris continued, her hair flying around wildly in the cold winter wind, giving the effect of a fairy coming to give an evil stepmother (in this case, Rory) her come-uppance, "Look, fine. I don't care. I won't go tonight for dinner...I'll sleep better knowing I'm not the bitch that cheated on her boyfriend." Then she'd turned her heel and walked away huffily.

Rory was left standing in the deserted garden grounds just outside her school. She hugged herself as she slowly sat down on one of the seats and cried. Paris was right. Right about everything...she was the biggest bitch ever. She didn't deserve Jess - and she didn't deserve Tristan either.

Rory's face was black as thunder as she stepped into Lorelai's car after school that Friday. The biggest fight that she'd ever had with Paris had just occured...as she recalled all the unfair things she'd said to Paris...she groaned and buried her face in her hands.

The question now was if she was going to go out with Tristan that night...then she thought about Jess' invite for dinner too. And she groaned again.

Lorelai, preoccupied with something else, did not notice when her daughter looked out the window and a solitary tear slid down her cheek. The icy cold wind bit into Rory and Lorelai's skin as they thundered home in Lorelai's car.

But neither cared to roll up the windows. They sat there, mother and daughter, lost in their own thoughts.


	29. Which Date?

"Mom?"

"Mmmm?" A distracted Lorelai asked. She turned into the driveway and stayed in her seat, while turning to face Rory.

"I don't feel well...umm...I have...cramps."

Lorelai raised her eyebrow quizzically. She knew her daughter better than that, "You don't want to go tonight do you?"

Rory's head snapped up, and she could feel the rosy red blush creeping up to her cheeks, "No, I don't."

"And you _don't_ have cramps, do you?"

"No, I don't..."

"Why? What's wrong with Jess?" Lorelai tried injecting some humour, "and after I made such exceptions to allow you guys to be together! Come on, tonight's dinner will be great! I know I haven't exactly been supportive about you guys till this point, but Jess and I spent some time together when we were discussing the dinner and he's really not that bad! Come on," Lorelai made a face, "If your old bag of a mom can learn to appreciate him, I'm sure you can make the effort!"

"But...I'm not really hungry...can't we just postpone the dinner or something?"

Lorelai looked as if she was debating something, and then sighed, "Well..." she began uneasily, "I promised Jess I wouldn't tell you, but seeing as this is jeopardising the whole of tonight, I think I'd better. Do you know where he got the money to pay for tonight's dinner?"

"No..." the sinking feeling in her stomach was growing as Rory avoided her mother's gaze.

"He's using his savings - _all_ his savings from working at Luke's to bring you to Choo's tonight - why, he already made the reservations!"

"Choo's..."

"Yes! I told him not to, but you know, ragamuffins those days! And it _is_ for pampering my favourite daughter!" Lorelai winked, "It's settled then, okay? You and Jess are going tonight and you're gonna have the time of your life!"

Rory managed a weak smile.


End file.
